Chapter 388 Goldman Sachs’ Friendship
On April 4, Chevron Texaco, the second largest oil company in the United States, had made an offer of US$16 billion to Unocal, hoping to acquire the company.
At present, their acquisition offer has begun to undergo antitrust review by the Federal Trade Commission of the United States.
At the same time, Barron also knew that in two months, China's CNOOC would also join in the acquisition of Unocal...
In fact, as early as February this year, Unocal sent some company information to CNOOC and invited them to participate in the acquisition.
In Barron's previous life, Chevron and CNOOC were the two main parties involved in the acquisition of Unocal, and Barron already knew the outcome - after all, the acquisition process was quite a fuss. At the beginning, it occupied many media sections.
After Lloyd raised the matter, Barron also began to consider the feasibility of joining the acquisition of Unocal.
First of all, is the acquisition of Unocal Corporation necessary for United Energy Group?
In Barron's view, Unocal's most valuable assets include two parts. One is the company's oil and gas block resources in Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh and other countries.
In addition, it is the oil and gas-related technology reserves and rich human resources that this company has accumulated through a century of development.
For CNOOC, the first one is probably the most important, while for United Energy Group, the latter one is more attractive.
As Lloyd said on the phone, both United Energy Group and Colo Petroleum Company currently have great development prospects, which is based on the rich reserves of the Colo offshore oil field.
But for an oil company, United Energy Group can only be said to be a shelf, and more content needs to be filled in.
This includes a series of technologies, equipment and talents for oil and gas exploration, refining, storage and transportation.
If Unocal can be acquired and merged into the United Energy Group, it will be like the protagonist in a martial arts novel who has been injected with a lifetime of inner strength by a senior master, and the United Energy Group will immediately be able to rank among the top energy companies in the world. Group, the temptation here is not small.
However, if United Energy Group wants to join in the acquisition of Unocal, it will not be so easy...
The first is the funding issue. Although by the end of 2004, Unocal's market value was approximately US$11 billion, and it had net debt of US$2.68 billion.
But Barron knows that in order to complete the acquisition of this company, in addition to shouldering the $2.68 billion in liabilities, the bid needs to be at least $17.5-18.5 billion.
Because Chevron, the first bidder, has already quoted US$16 billion, while CNOOC's quote will be even higher.
"Mr. Blankfein, one thing that makes me a little confused is that I know that China's CNOOC has been invited by Unocal and hopes that they will join in the acquisition of them..."
Barron held the phone and said calmly:
"If my guess is correct, you have also contacted CNOOC and will try to help them acquire it and provide financing. So why did you give me this call again? Remind me to join in?"
It seemed that Lloyd had not expected Barron to suddenly mention this. After Barron finished speaking, he was silent for two seconds and said:
"Your Highness the Duke, I do not deny that we will help PetroChina with financing if they can succeed in the final acquisition. But this is just a if, one code equals one code. This suggestion I give you is also because I have seen the acquisition process In the process of joining Unocal, your United Energy Group can make up for its shortcomings and become stronger. I hope you believe that I am doing this entirely out of the friendship between us and it is completely beneficial to you."
For Goldman Sachs Group CEO Lloyd Blankfein's call, Barron could only laugh.
As we all know, Wall Street investment banks are all profit-seeking, and among all Wall Street investment banks, Goldman Sachs Group must be the most cunning one.
In his previous life, Barron had studied countless financial cases on Wall Street. In most of these cases, Goldman Sachs Group could be seen, and almost every time Goldman Sachs Group was able to escape from the crisis, at least. The fastest one...
If you really believe that Goldman Sachs Group can have so-called friendship, then I am afraid that you will be the next one to be cheated by Goldman Sachs.
"Thank you for your call, Mr. Blankfein, but I need to conduct more evaluation on whether to join the acquisition of Unocal. If there is a result, I will be the first to inform you, and I hope We can continue to work together.”
After giving this reply, he hung up the phone and dialed another number:
"Help me check the shareholder composition of Unocal and the capital situation behind these shareholders."
…
“Our family has a very deep connection with the University of Cambridge, and this connection continues to this day. We cherish the various deeds condensed in history that this wonderful bond has given each other, and we hope that today’s cooperation can bring this kind of relationship to the present. The bond continues…”
When Barron came to Cambridge University and donated 50 million pounds to Cambridge University in the name of the Devonshire Family Trust Fund to establish the Devonshire Scholarship, his speech also caused thunderous applause in the auditorium.
Indeed, as Barron said, the Cavendish family has a close relationship with Cambridge University.
Barron's ancestor, William Cavendish, the ninth Duke of Devonshire, once served as the president of Cambridge University.
Lucy Cavendish College in Cambridge University is named after Lucy Devonshire, the daughter-in-law of the ninth Duke of Devonshire, who was dedicated to female education.
And since then, the Devonshire family has also continued to provide funding to academics, including the Cavendish Laboratory.
In addition to generous donations to the University of Cambridge, Barron's DS Capital Quantitative Fund and Woaw Technology have many cooperative projects with the University of Cambridge.
Therefore, all in all, it is very easy for descendants of the Cavendish family to enter Cambridge University.
If Barron's predecessor hadn't been too rebellious and didn't like the environment here in Cambridge, but yearned for the prosperity of London, I'm afraid he would have been one of the famous alumni of Cambridge University...
"What you just said is great, my dear, those girls are all nymphomaniacs in the audience..."
Before Barron left Cambridge, Tamaran Ecclestone also quietly got into Barron's Rolls-Royce Phantom. She said this to Barron charmingly as soon as she got in the car.
"So that includes you? Baby."
Being held by the girl's arms and feeling the soft squeeze, Barron couldn't help but sigh, this girl's nutrition is so good...
"You hate it. By the way, should we go to the manor now?"
"Yes, I'm going to stay there for a few days, what do you think?"
"That's great, I miss it a little bit too."
The next place they were going was Chatsworth Manor. It was now spring, and the colors there were brighter. It was the time when the scenery was at its most beautiful.
Speaking of which, Barron hadn't been back there for a while, and Bonnie couldn't get away for the time being. Barron took advantage of the opportunity to come to Cambridge University and took Tamaran with him.
